Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale | Great Lakes Brewery

Notes / Commercial Description:
In our pursuit to bring you the most flavourful and unique beers possible, we are proud to release this tasty autumn ale. Handcrafted with an assortment of specialty malts and hops, we added a generous amount of pumpkin directly into the brew. Combine this with hints of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice, and you've got a beer that you won't soon forget. Rich, satisfying and slightly spicy, our seasonal ale goes perfectly with your favourite dessert or traditional feast. But like fall, Pumpkin Ale comes but once a year!

More User Reviews:

Had this as part of a Pumpkin Ale tasting event. Poured into a nonic glass.

Light copper-golden, a thin, foamy head that recedes after a few moments. Some visible carbonbation.

Nose is pretty dull - pale malts, light hops, only a faint nutmeg, pumpkin scent that I could barely detect - others with me could not.

For a beer that markets itself as a pumpkin ale, where exactly is the pumpkin??? Unlike the noble jack o lantern, which features prominently on your front step or in your window, the pumpkin here chooses instead to hide in the back, only making rare visits as the beer warms up. The spicy flavor is not all that enjoyable either - more tinny and artificial. If this were a well made pale ale with subtle pumpkin notes, this could be excused, but sadly, it is not. Truth be told, I had trouble finishing it.

Mouthfeel is thin, carbonation provides a light sting.

I had been warned about this brew by a few friends, but I thought I'd give it a go, despite having developed a mistrust of Great Lakes LCBO offerings. Comparing this brew to others of the style, and it's not even close.

Orange with a white head, and lacey. Spice including moderate pumpkin aroma. The taste is bold and a naturally above average carbonated. Tasty and one of the better pumpkins I have liked, drinkable. Balanced with some bitterness, a tad sweet with cinammon, nutmeg and faint clove, and of course gourd.
Had almost 2 years later on cask at C'est What and it was a very good cask.

Aroma may have ruined the whole experience for me. Unpleasant sour, macro-lager type smell. I was expecting to smell pumpkin pie, instead I was getting raw pumpkin pulp, not my thing.

In the taste, again I got a cheap lager impression which is not what I was expecting at all, kind of chalky. Bottle promises full flavoured ale with pumpkin, cloves, allspice and cinnamon... I got the cloves but where were the other spices? I was prepared for much more after reading reviews of big pumpkin pie beers. The pumpkin seemed subdued to me, more of a whiff in the finish than anything else. It seemed to me like the malt and the pumpkin just weren't complimentary, they didn't seem to work together. To me it tasted like a Keith's with some pumpkin in the mix.

Mouth feel was, again, not what I expected. I was looking for a big ale with some very mild carbonation. Instead I found it surprisingly thin and carbonated.

Now, as I said, this is the first pumpkin ale I've ever had so maybe I've misunderstood the style. I was expecting a full-flavoured, pumpkin pie spice experience, instead I found a thin beer with a little bit of pumpkin and cloves and not much else. Reading the other reviews, I'll give this one another shot and try some more examples of the style. As it is, I'm not impressed with this one.

A - nearly clear golden orange, creamy head retained very nicely with random blobs of lacing
S - roasted pumpkin and spice with a leafy hint and lingering booziness
T - big cinnamon and clove spice kick, mild pumpkin, toasty maltiness with some alcohol creeping in
M - light body with a big spice tingle, finishes lightly dry
O - a pumpkin ale dominated by spice, it is definitely tasty although I tend to prefer the style when the pumpkin is more prominent than spice, but still a tasty treat

Welcoming in the fall season.
Pours a light gold colour, some head which dissipates quickly. Good amount of carbonation.
The nose is strong, I could smell the beer upon opening. A spice aroma is dominant. Cinnamon and pumpkin also present.
The taste is a little weak, tasting more like an ale than any sort of major flavoured specialty beer. It's a bit sour to begin with the light pumpkin and spice flavour lingering.
Again, light mouthfeel. Watery texture, a little underwealming.
Overall this is a rather average take on the pumpkin ale. I would have preferred a more flavourful and upfront spice taste. For whats available at this point in ON though, it's a great change of pace!

Not much of the pumpkin or spices are coming through. It reminds me quite a bit of the taste letdown with their Miami Weiss; all the flavours here need to be amplified. Pretty much all I'm getting is a light malt character along with an earthy hop bitterness. Some grain on the finish. The spices are only present enough to make you wonder if they're even there at all. Everything here is much too far over to the cautious side of things. I wouldn't say it's too well balanced either; I could use more malt here. I'm thinking they missed the mark on this one. Not even close to enough pumpkin character.

I think I'd prefer the feel a little creamier but it's not too bad. Medium-high carbonation. More drying than you would expect at this level of bitterness.

It is drinkable. No off flavours and it does go down pretty easily in spite of it's boringness. The only thing holding it back is the drying finish, it's a little too much. If the bottle didn't say Pumpkin Ale, I'm not sure if I would think it was one. I know that pumpkin pie spice isn't something you want to overdo in a beer but for my taste the spices are way underdone. Glad I only picked up one of these, I won't be buying it again.

This is great lakes fall seasonal offering I've had it a few times but never reviewed it, so here we go.

It pours a clear golden orange much akin to honey, with a thin white head atop.

Aromas of pumpkin (surprised surprise) and grassy wheat first hit the nose. Bread and honey/corn syrup notes make a showing along with hints of clove. There is an underlying scent of wet leaves which seems a tad strange.

Hop bitterness is the first flavour to strike the taste, quickly followed by some malt sweetness and what can be best described as dry crackers. The bite of cinnamon and clove can be detected in the aftertaste. Additionally some subtle pumpkin flavours pop up but it adds much more to the body then the actual taste. As with most pumpkin beers there is a fine mouth feel gently coating the tongue providing a smooth slightly viscous sensation.

This is a decent pumpkin beer, tasty and easy drinking, with the characteristic fine body.

A: Very nice golden with a touch of amber, or pumpkin. Good head, not much lacing.

S: Maybe my nose is stuffed? No hints of the spices they speak of on the bottle. Maybe some pumpkin, but maybe just because I'm looking for it.

T: This beer isn't terrible, but the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg really seem to be lacking. There are hints, HINTS, of them in the aftertaste, but I shouldn't have to concentrate this hard to find them.

M: Kind of steely. Again, it isn't terrible, but it definitely does not scream pumpkin ale, more like a pale ale with subtle spicy notes.

O: I had this beer last year and recall being very impressed with the spicy/pumpkin flavours. I shared it with a non-craft-beer crowd and they liked it. Guess I should have reviewed it then. I can give GLB the benefit of the doubt, maybe this batch was a rough one. We'll see next year.

Bottle: Poured a clear orangey color ale with a small foamy head with no retention and no lacing. Aroma of pumpkin and cinnamon is dominating and well balance. Taste is also dominated by some pumpkin notes with some cinnamon and maybe subtle cloves notes. Full body with some minimal carbonation. Well done overall with some good balance.

T - A nice spice flavour of cinnamon and nutmeg come through initially with a nice pumpkin backbone providing the base for this ale. Somewhat light compared to other pumpkin beers but very enjoyable nonetheless.

I have not had many pumpkin beers but I really enjoyed this one. I love the fact that the spices come through over everything else. It ends up being a bit unbalanced but I really didn't mind. I would not be able to drink a whole lot of them though. It pours with a fluffy off white head, great retention and lacing. Has a clear orange copper color.

I found the nose to be at its best right after the pour ( strange but thats what I thought). Notes of pumpkin pie spices ( cinnamon, nutmeg etc), a bit of pumpkin and caramel malt.

Tastes similar to the nose, the spices are king in this beer. Also has hints of caramel malt and hop bitterness. Great fall drink that I hope Great Lakes keeps on brewing.

22oz from the LCBO. Pours a rather lightish (for a pumpkin ale) golden orange, almost IPA like with just a slight orange hue. Light head with little retention, though plenty of carb here.

Nose is nicely spiced, nutmeg being the primary one coming through. Also hints of cinnamon, all spice, behind that some fresh pumpkin.

Taste is pretty light, not as much going on here as I was hoping for this chilly, rainy evening. Nice malt base, light pumpkin additions and light spicing in the finish, hard to distinguish individual spices there (but certainly some cinnamon and nutmeg). Pretty heavy carb and I would prefer it toned down a notch to make it seem a little smoother.

A little smoother, a little richer, little more defined - those would be on my wish list for this beer. Not a bad beer by any means, drinkable for sure. Just not super.